The Contractor
by Not.My.Orthonym
Summary: She left, not by choice and far too young. She doesn't want to be back but she is. She doesn't want anything to do with them, but she ends up more involved than ever. She doesn't want to be a hero, but she doesn't really have a choice. Pairing to be figured out along the way. Kaze no Stigma connections.
1. Welcome to Konoha, Nagi-san!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Kaze no Stigma.

Few dared to actually line the streets to watch. Most remained in the houses and shops that lined the main street, peering out through the windows. Those few out on the street mainly belonged to the Uchiha clan. They were some of the few powerful enough to blatantly watch the Hyuuga's humiliation. With no fear of retribution, the members of the Uchiha clan waited near the gate quietly, but happily. It was always nice to watch the Hyuuga take a hit, and honestly it happened so rarely. Those non-Uchihas on the street were much more solemn. These were people who knew the girl and liked her enough to risk the Hyuuga's ire: her only two friends from the academy, a flower shopkeeper who had helped the girl care for her mother's garden, and her teacher from the academy, who had hoped for so much more for her. Notably absent from the streets and the houses were the other Hyuugas, who had refused to even watch her leave the compound (with the exception of her younger sister, who peeked through a window as the small figure carrying a few meager supplies left the compound for the last time). Also missing was the Hokage. He had similarly refused to watch, but for the opposite reasons. He hated that she was being forced to leave.

The people grew silent as they caught sight of the little girl walking steadily down the road. The bruise from yesterday's fight was a stark contrast from her otherwise pale skin. Her bangs hid her eyes from the crowd. Her small backpack contained the few supplies she had been allowed to take with her. Hidden in it were the few extras smuggled to her by those who cared. A few brave people had sent rations to help her on her journey. The flower shop owner had managed to get two books to her: Flower Meanings; What Your Bouquet Really Means and Common Edible Plants. Her sensei had added one more to her library: Common Ninjutsu and Genjutsu Techniques. And her friends had given her a small stuffed dog and a good jacket she had hidden at the bottom of her pack. Along with a small amount of food, a water bottle, the clothes she now wore, and a bracelet left to her by her mother, that was all she owned.

As she walked out of the gate, head down, shoulders hunched, her friends began to cry. They were 11 year old boys, and on any other occasion they would have hidden it, ashamed. But for now they cried openly, one sobbing loudly, the other silently leaking.

This even would be etched in Kiba and Shino's minds forever. There was no erasing that. Ino wouldn't remember the day itself, but would occasionally find her mother crying over a picture drawn by a little girl with white eyes. Sasuke would look back in fondness, mistaking the day for a holiday and a memory of a time before his brother betrayed his family. Naruto would later wonder why Iruka kept a class picture of the year before everyone graduated from the academy. For all the rest most of the memory of the shy little girl would disappear. They didn't need to remember her. She wasn't anything special.

*LINE BREAK*

Hinata would like to pretend that she walked out of the city with dignity and pride. She would like to pretend that her eyes were dry and determined and the reason she didn't look up was because she refused to five those horrible people the satisfaction.

But she was never very good at lying to herself. She had walked out keeping her head down and her mouth firmly shut because she was sure the moment she looked at something other than her feet or opened her mouth she would start bawling.

If she could do it again (though if she had a choice she never would), she'd do it right. Head up, shoulders squared, looking each and every person straight in the eye and asking them accusingly "Why?".

Thoughts like these raced through her mind as her paperwork was checked by the chunin who had pulled guard duty.

"Alright, everything checks out. Welcome to Konoha, Nagi-san!"

"Arigato."

As she walked through the gate, she paused, taking in the sight of the place she used to call home.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"W-what?" A combination of surprise and familiar setting brought back her stutter.

"The city! Konoha is the most gorgeous place I've ever seen! And I've been all over, 'cause I'm a ninja. Trust me, you'll never see another place a beautiful as here. Sometimes I don't even really mind pulling guard duty, 'cause I get to look at her all day. Course, it gets boring after a few minutes, on account of I don't sit still well, but it's still nice." His intonation combined with his blonde hair and blue eyes to pull a memory out of her head. A little boy on a swing set all alone: her childhood crush, whom she left without ever talking to. "Anyway, don't you think she's beautiful?"

She turned away from his 100 megawatt smile to look back at the city. Memories of faces peered out at her, faces she had refused to look at but whose stares had made every step that much harder. "No."

Leaving him quickly behind, she realized he had grown up into exactly the person she had pictured. When she was small she daydreamed about what their life would be like when they were older and she finally got up the courage to tell him about her feelings. She'd thought about it a lot.

In some small part of herself, she resented him for not being different. She resented him for not changing because she left. But she had only watched from afar, he barely knew who she was. Why would her departure affect him? It wouldn't. But, and she blamed this on returning to this bad place, the feeling remained.

*LINE BREAK*

"You see children, hundreds of years ago demons roamed the earth. They destroyed towns and crops and animals, and so humans developed a way to fight them. And that is how ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu came about. And that took care of many of their demon problems. But some of the demons were too strong, and were killing many people."

"Like the demon fox that attacked us many years ago?"

"Ooo yeah! Tell that story!"

"You idiot, she's already telling us a story!"

"But this one's boring."

"If you children aren't quite, I won't be telling you any stories. Are you going to listen, or are you going to talk?"

"Listen."

"Good. Now, yes, like the demon fox. Living in this time was a young woman. While she was off on a mission, her village was destroyed. Heartbroken, she called out to the gods to give her the strength to defeat the demon that killed her family. And one god, touched by her plight, appeared to her. He offered her a contract. The exact terms are lost to us, but she gained power over his domain, in this case fire. And she became the first En-Jutsushi, and the first contractor. She was able to use her control over all fire spirits to defeat the demon that had destroyed her village. Others followed in her lead, forming contracts with the other Spirit Kings. Do you know what those other techniques are called?"

"Well, En-jutsu's control over fire! The Hyuugas and Uchihas have it, and it's the strongest!"

"Nuh-uh! My mom's from Suna, and she says that Chi-jutsu's the strongest, 'cause everyone has to stand on the earth."

"Not if they can use Sui-jutsu. Then they can stand on water."

"What about Fu-jutsu? Can't they fly, Grandma?"

"That's another story, little one, and perhaps not one for right now."

"Everyone knows Fu-jutsushi can't fly, moron!"

"Yeah! They're the weakest of the bunch!"

"Run along now children. I think your mother is calling for you."

After the children left, the grandmother didn't stay more than five minutes. Hinata finally had the park bench all to herself.

The woman was an awful storyteller.

*LINE BREAK*

Hinata had bought the small apartment off a couple she met on the road. They were moving to get away from the danger of living in a ninja village. Hinata was heading back to Konoha anyway, and bought the apartment without ever seeing it. They had looked like they needed the money, and Hinata didn't care too much where she stayed. If she had a roof she counted herself lucky. After all, there was a large amount of time where she didn't. It was a nice place. One bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, all rather small, but serviceable. The walls were painted in cool, comforting colors, blues and purples mainly. The furniture came with the apartment, so Hinata didn't need to do any shopping. The couple hadn't wanted to take anything, partially for fear of it being stolen, but mostly because it was all rather cheap and they could afford better now. They even left her pots and pans and some old cutlery. Hinata could see being happy here. It felt like a home, a safe place. She was grateful to have found it. She'd need a safe haven in this city.

Coming back to Konoha had been a hard decision for her. Part of her wanted to come back and show them all what had become of her, make sure they knew that she had survived, had thrived even. But Hinata was never one to love the limelight and more of her wanted to just let things be. What did it matter what they thought of her? She was done with them, and they with her. She just wanted to let the whole thing rest, and be content with the fact that she never had to deal with them ever again. She had forgiven most of them long ago. Not all of them. She could never forgive all of them. But she no longer let it rule her life. It was something that had happened, and while she would always remember, she didn't have to let it cripple her.

And then some intel had reached her and she had realized that a lead was pointing toward Konoha. She could have ignored it. She had wanted to ignore it. But she was always short on leads and she'd decided following this one was worth the pain. So she's come back, not as Hyuuga Hinata, but as Nagi Hinata. She got an apartment and would go looking for a job tomorrow and would wait until her lead either panned out or didn't. And then she'd leave, and they'd never have to know she came back at all. With her customary contacts to hide her Hyuuga eyes and 8 years gone by, hopefully no one would recognize her. She had thought about sneaking in under a false name, but it was best to do things legally when possible. It drew less attention.

Maybe she could even learn to be happy here. Maybe being here would be cathartic. Maybe it would help her let go of the hatred that coiled around her heart whenever she thought of this place. Maybe she would be able to heal her past wounds and leave a better person than she came. Maybe.

But that wasn't the purpose of this trip. And it probably wasn't entirely possible. After all, she'd been carrying these wounds since she was 11, since she last resided in Konoha.

Gods, she hated Konoha.

If everything went right, Hinata would be in and out in a few months. No one would even know she'd been there. She tried to ignore the nagging voice at the back of her head. You know, the one that says, "But since when did anything go right for you?"

*LINE BREAK*

Chapter 1 done. Not betad, just so you know. In case you missed it, at 11 Hinata was kicked out of the Hyuuga clan and thrown out of Konoha. 8 years later, at the age of 19, she returns. When she left she was stripped of the name Hyuuga. At some point while she was gone she gave herself the last name Nagi. The Hyuuga and Uchiha clans are fire magic users and consider themselves the strongest. Suna houses earth magic users who think they're the strongest. Somewhere in the world there are water magic users who also think they're the strongest. Wind magic users have been subjugated by the other three and are considered the weakest.


	2. 3 Months of Nothing

The first month in Konoha passed quickly. Hinata found a job in a little grocery store conveniently situated in the large, unavoidable marketplace. The market was the center of life in Konoha, everyone had to go there sooner or later, and every bit of news passed through eventually. Hinata cleaned, carried, helped, watched, listened, and paid attention. She felt almost cheerful, her goal clearly in her sight. She loved having a sense of purpose, something to drive towards.

The second month passed slower, as Hinata began to lose heart. No news came in, at least not regarding her targets.

The third month dragged on. Hinata felt jittery and upset. Little things began to set her off. The Konohites bothered her. Being in this place bothered her. She wanted to leave. Soon.

Hinata had gone nine months before receiving this lead. She had jumped at this lead because she hadn't had one in so long. She had been willing to come to Konoha because she was desperate, because she thought this would pay off. But it wasn't paying off. Maybe it was being in Konoha that made her skin itch, or maybe it was because she needed to _do_ something. In many ways Hinata was a very patient person, but not with this.

At the start of the fourth month, Hinata was disheartened enough to be careless. And that's probably why when something actually happened, it took her by surprise.

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It was the middle of the night when the battle happened. Hinata had been sleeping, albeit not well. She was having a nightmare, and when she woke up she almost thought she hadn't. But the fire in her room was real enough to get her moving. She ran to her small bathroom, only to find it destroyed. Something had slashed into it, cut the sink and mirror in half. The fire was still going strong. No time to grab her contacts or put a genjutsu in place. Hinata grabbed a hooded sweatshirt and pulled the hood low over her face. Between it being night, the hood, and her bangs, hopefully no one would notice her distinctive eyes.

Hinata ran out of the building and joined the crowds of people watching the fight. It was dangerous to stick around, but if they had finally made their move she didn't want to miss it.

Two figures were battling in the middle of the main street. One was lobbing fireballs while the other skillfully dodged them. The fire magic user was a Hyuuga, with long dark brown hair loosely tied back and the famous white pupilless eyes. Hinata winced. One could easily confuse any Hyuuga for another, but Hinata knew this one. Hyuuga Neji was not someone easily forgotten.

It was only when his opponent unleashed what could only be described as a blade of wind that Hinata realized what was happening. They had made their move, just not the one she had expected. Damn. Damn!

"What's happening?"

"Why are they fighting?"

"How did a fujutsushi get that much power?"

"Everybody calm down! We need to get you all as far away from this fight as possible. Please follow me in an orderly fashion!"

"But what's going on?"

"Someone kidnapped the Hyuuga heiress. As you can see, we are in the process of apprehending the criminal."

Hinata froze, her eyes locked onto the wind magic user. Once again she cursed her own stupidity. She hadn't seen this coming. Not at all, not like this. It wasn't their usual pattern.

But, then again, Konoha wasn't exactly a normal city.

There was only one reason they would kidnap her. And that left Hinata only one option.

If she had only seen this coming … if she had only …

But she hadn't. And she had to deal with the here and now. Neji was in danger of being overpowered and soon. And the more time she wasted here, the greater chance of this all ending in death.

Besides, no way were all these people gonna get away unharmed unless she did something.

A couple of deep breaths.

A couple more.

_Come on, you don't have time for this._

_Now. Do it now._

The wind magic user let loose an attack headed right for the crowd.

_NOW!_

People gasped as the wind blade crashed against a wind barrier that had suddenly appeared around them. Even Hyuuga Neji was visibly startled, at least for a moment. But the most shocked was the fujutsushi. Rising up into the air, he searched the crowd for the source, certain that he would find the culprit. He didn't expect Hinata to attack from behind.

A wall of air hit him in the back, pushing him against a nearby wall. As he struggled against the pressure, Hinata was suddenly right beside Neji.

"Which way did they take her?" Hinata was careful to keep her eyes as hidden as they could be.

"Why should I tell you?" Neji's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Does it look like I'm on their side?" His attention was still on his currently subdued opponent, slowly freeing himself. "We don't have a lot of time. That won't hold him for long. I can reach her faster than you. Which way did they go?"

"… That way." He jerked his head left.

"Thank you. I'll come back and help once I've saved her. You just hold him here."

Hinata took off in the right direction, focusing her senses. She needed to find the place where the disturbances in the auras were the greatest. Unfortunately, there was disturbance everywhere at the moment. It took concentration.

Neji could hold the fujutsushi off for a while. She'd be back soon enough. Right now, she had to go stop a demon from freeing itself.

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Fu-jutsu used to be considered the most powerful of the four. It summoned wind spirits the fastest and had the most varied powers. A Fu-jutsushi could fly, turn invisible, float objects, and so much more. But that was centuries ago. Before the wind magic users got too confident. Before the others began to hate them. Before the war. Before the destruction. Before the genocide.

Back then, Fu-jutsushi had their own country, their own castle.

Now the Chi-jutsushi ruled over a desert, and the remaining Fu-jutsushi were weak and bound in service to the other jutsushi.

One such clan was the Kazamaki clan, bound in service to the Hyuuga. They once drew strength from worshipping a demon, until the Hyuuga sealed it away. Anyone who tried to free it would be burnt to a crisp by intense fire. Unless, of course, one couldn't be burned by any fire.

The Hyuuga main branch was protected from all fire.

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AN: Sorry this took forever and is so short. Wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to do this. Also incredibly busy. I'll update sooner and longer next time I promise.


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